QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:
- Do you need to light a fire under someone in your family to rake leaves? I’ll be raking leaves today after we get back from the dog park. There is just a loose covering of them on the lawn, but I don’t want it to get worse (or wet or muddier). Though it’s cold today, the surprising amount of sunshine we have will make this chore cheerier.
- If you plan to have a holiday party for friends or your co-workers, it’s time to start looking at dates. Announce your party as soon as possible. With five Fridays and five Saturdays in the month of December, people’s social schedules can fill up quite quickly.
- Speaking of looking ahead at the holidays, do you have your Thanksgiving travel plans set, or have you invited people to your home yet?
- Stay informed. Have you watched your local evening news lately? Read a newspaper (whether the paper version or online) and watched a national news program in the last week or two?
- Take a quick peek in your cupboard (unless you remember everything from last month when we took inventory). Are you doing ok on soups, hot cereals, hot teas, hot cocoa, spiced apple cider mix?
- Maintenance cleaning: Pick a floor, whether it be bathroom, kitchen or laundry room, and mop it if needed.
TODAY’S PROJECT: Family Room
I cleaned my upstairs living room yesterday.. So tonight after dinner I’ll work on the downstairs Family Room. (If you have only one living room/family room, you have the night off! Lucky you!)
This is currently the dustiest, dirtiest, muddiest room in the house. That’s because it’s the room the dogs spend most of their time in when they’re not outside. As you can imagine, several times a day they come running in from the rain with muddy paws. The door is open often, so dust just wafts in and coats everything. Ugh.
I’ll begin by sweeping the room. Next, I need to move all the furniture and vacuum under it. I can’t move my television (and the heavy table it stands on) by myself, so I’ll try to do my best vacuuming under them with the vacuum attachments.
The TV and the TV stand need to be dusted; my fluffy throws laundered; curtains Febrezed; end tables and bookcases dusted. I’ll put away my Halloween beaded coasters and Halloween hurricane lamp, replacing them with chocolate brown beaded coasters and a fragrance oil diffuser. I’ll dust the few picture frames and knicknacks I have on my end table and mantel. Let’s not forget to dust the baseboards, too!
My fireplace mantel is cluttered with empty candleholders and used matches from the candles we burned on Halloween. I’ll reset the mantel with two fall-scented candles.
The sliding glass door needs to have fingerprints washed off of it (plus paw and nose prints from the dogs). I’ll fluff the couch pillows, and vacuum the upholstered couches to get pet hair off them.
I use a red melamine tray in place of a coffee table. It needs to be wiped down and have drinking glasses removed from it. I’d like to set out a new box of Kleenex, but it has to be out of reach of my chew-happy dogs.
Tonight when I’m folding laundry and watching TV, I’ll be doing it in a clean, orderly family room, dogs playing (and chewing) at my feet to keep me company.
LOVELY BLOGS: Taste and Tell
“What’s for dinner tonight.. and more!” A stay-at-home mom shares easy, fast and family friendly recipes. Currently she’s sharing how to make Mongolian beef; posting about butternut squash bread; and giving the recipe for apple-filled pull-apart loaf.
http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/
LOVELY LINKS FOR TODAY:
Owl Cookies & Cream Cupcakes (6 Bittersweets)
6 Favorite Aprons that Can Make (And Take) A Splash (Bon Appetit)
13 Hot, Gooey Food Recipes (CHOW)
The 2011 List of Most Influential People in Food and Drink (CHOW)
